IBT Staff Reporter

Stocks slid on Monday, as bank shares fell after a widely-followed analyst recommended investors reduce or sell holdings of several large bank stocks, sapping recent optimism on the health of the financial sector.

Royal Dutch Shell has resumed operations at its Utorogu gas plant in Nigeria three days after it was shut down to repair a pipeline that was tapped by thieves, a spokesman said on Monday.

A research team at Taiwan's top university has rolled out a tiny low-budget device that can sense earthquakes within 30 seconds, enough time to issue crucial disaster warnings, the lead inventor said Monday.

Shares of utility Energias de Portugal (EDP.LS) are the top pick for April among Portuguese fund managers polled by Reuters, followed by oil company Galp (GALP.LS) and Zon Multimedia (ZON.LS).

Western nations and lending agencies have agreed a financing package of more than $1 billion to improve infrastructure in southern and central Africa at an investment conference meant to expand transport links and trade.

Italy's biggest oil and gas group, Eni, has made a new hydrocarbon discovery offshore Indonesia as it aims to boost activity in the region, Eni said in a statement on Monday.

Six car bombs exploded across Baghdad Monday, killing at least 34 people and wounding scores, police said, after a spate of arrests targeting Sunni Arab fighters raised tensions in the Iraqi capital.

Wireless carrier T-Mobile is planning an aggressive push into the home with a variety of communication devices that will use Google's new Android operating software, the New York Times said.

U.S. President Barack Obama pledged on Monday to help Turkey resolve its differences with Armenia as the United States sought to strengthen ties with a crucial NATO ally in its war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The financial crisis provides an incentive for countries that use the euro to remain inside the monetary union, billionaire investor George Soros said on Monday, though countries on the periphery still face serious problems.

Stocks slid further on Monday as concerns about the health of banking system diminished appetite for riskier assets and as billionaire investor George Soros said the banking system was basically insolvent.

DNO International said on Monday authorities in Kurdistan had assigned minority stakes in three fields that the Norwegian oil exploration company is developing in the Middle Eastern region.

Google Inc should defend a trademark lawsuit by Rescuecom Corp over advertisements linked to keyword searches, a U.S. appeals court ruled on Friday.

Stocks opened lower on Monday, as bank shares fell after an analyst initiated coverage on several large banks with an underperform or sell rating, sapping recent investor optimism on the financial sector.

The outage at Japan's biggest nuclear power station was likely to have pushed up manufacturers' CO2 emissions in the year ended last month, despite a slowdown in economic activity, a government official said on Friday.

Oil prices fell below $51 a barrel on Monday as stock markets sputtered, erasing early gains on expectations that rich nations' efforts to stimulate their economies may help end the global downturn sooner than expected.

Revolution Money, an online payment firm backed by AOL co-founder Steve Case, said on Monday it has received funding of $42 million from a group that includes a Goldman Sachs affiliate and earlier investors Citigroup and Morgan Stanley .

Four of the world's top airlines have backed a global scheme to curb carbon emissions and hope the proposal will be included in a broader U.N. pact to fight climate change.

Iran criticized on Monday U.S. President Barack Obama for saying Tehran posed a threat with its nuclear program and urged Washington and other countries possessing atom weapons to dismantle their arsenals.

London bankers' mighty pay has fallen from the highest level among global financial centers to the lowest, with Wall Street financiers grabbing the top spot, a poll showed on Sunday.

A powerful earthquake struck a huge swath of central Italy as residents slept on Monday morning, killing more than 50 people and making up to 50,000 homeless.

Stocks futures pointed to a lower open on Monday, as bank shares fell after an analyst initiated coverage on several large banks with an underperform or sell rating, sapping recent investor optimism on the financial sector.

Standard Chartered on Monday offered to buy back or exchange more than $1.6 billion of subordinated Tier 2 bonds following similar offers from Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group .

Wireless carrier T-Mobile is planning an aggressive push into the home with a variety of communication devices that will use Google's new Android operating software, the New York Times said.

HSBC shares jumped over 5 percent on Monday after its massive 12.9 billion pound ($18.9 billion) rights issue received a robust response from investors, with leftover shares sold quickly.

World stocks rose for a fifth straight session on Monday as investors sought bargains against a background of increasing optimism about the global economy.

Shares of Sun Microsystems Inc dropped on Monday after a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters that IBM's talks to acquire its smaller rival broke down.

Oil prices rose toward $53 per barrel on Monday, buoyed by expectations that rich nations' efforts to stimulate their economies may help end the global downturn sooner than expected.

A Swedish local court on Monday granted General Motors' loss-making unit Saab an extension of the period it is protected from creditors, giving it further time to restructure.